Improved washing-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE B. MALLETTE, 0E MILLPOET, NEw Yoan.

IMPROVED WASHING-MACI-HNE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,379, dated May 27, l862.

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. MALLETTE, of Millport, in the county of Chemung and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Washing and Drying Clothes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this speciiicaion, in which- Figure l is a vertical section through the center of my machine, representingit as in the act of washing. Fig. 2 is a vertical section transversely of Fig. l, representing the screw K and rack J added to the machine for the purpose of pressing the water from the clothes after washing.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in both of the iigures.

My invention 'consists in the combination of a suction-pump with a tub or vat to receive the suds and clothes, provided with a rack or other means of supporting the clothes, so as to leave a chamber at the bottom, with which the pumplcommunicates by means of a pipe or pipes, through which the suds or Water is forced by the action of the pump and poured again upon the clothing from the spout of the pump, keeping a continuous circuit through the clothes until they are sufficiently cleansed,

and also in the combination of a rack and screwV above the clothes for expressing the water retained by them after the vat has been emptied, the drying being completed by rarefying and exhausting the air by means of the operation of the pump and causing currents to be passed through the fabrics cleansed. r

As represented in the drawings, A is the vat to contain the suds, B being the cylinder of a suction-pump, of which c is the piston and d the lever by which it is worked. A rack, E, is placed near the bottom of the vat, leaving a little space, H, below, between which and the pump there is communication by means of the pipe F. y v i The clothes to be washed are placed in the vator reservoir on the top of the rack, and water or suds suihcient to fully cover them is added. The pump, being then worked, exhausts the water or suds from the chamber below the rack, when that with which the clothes are saturated and the surplus above them is forced through by atmospheric pressure, dissolving and removing the dirt as it passes. The pump discharges into the vat by.

the spout g, thus keeping up a continual circuit through the clothes, which rapidly cleanses all parts, and this effect is augmented by the force with which the stream from the spout g impinges upon them. This effect-may be increased by giving the spout as great an elevation as is compatible with ease of working.

By this process all the benets derived from rubbing and pounding are produced without their injurious effect in wearing and tearing the fabrics. same or a shorter period of time. All handling of the clothes is dispensed with, except to stir or distribute them, so that all parts will be equally disposed and subjected to the passage ofthe water through them.

When the cleansing is completed, the water is drawn off by removing the plug 7L and another rack, J, placed upon the clothes, its bars being transverse to those of E. A screw, K, is then introduced, which passes through a nut Xed in a cross-bar, L, each end of which is held in the bearings m m on the sides of the vat. The screw is provided with a winch or lever, and when turned down bears upon the upper rack, and the force thus applied to the clothes expresses the water from them. At the same time the pump is put in operation and exhausts the air from the chamber H bc* low the clothing, or rarees it to such an extent as to rapidly evaporate the remaining moisture from the pores and capillaries of the fabrics, its place being supplied by dry air from the surrounding atmosphere. While the pump is working for the purpose of drying the clothes the plug from the spout a is removed, (the orifice below being closed by the plug la) so that any water that is elevated by i the piston shall be discharged outside ofthe vat and not within it, as when the spout g is used. Any other means of applying sufficient press ure to therack J may be employed as a substitute for the screw K. Thus all wringing to remove the water from the clothes is dispensed with, and the drying effected in a great part, if not wholly, by the action of the pump in removing the water and promoting evaporation.

I do not claim the use of a forcing-pump for injecting water or suds into clothes under pressure; but

The cleansing is effected in the under pressure, the same device answering for Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to both purposes when the press J is applied and secure by Letters Patent, isthe pump made to discharge its Water outside 1. The combination of the exhaust or sucof the box, substantially as shown and detion pump B, With a suitable box or vat, A, scribed. and loose rack E, or its equivalent, for washing In witness whereof I have hereunto signed the clothes without pressure, arranged and opmy name in the presence of two subscribing erating substantially as set forth. Witnesses.

2. The combination of the exhaust-pump B, G. B. MALLETTE. with the pressure-rack J, or its'equivalent, W'itnesses: Y Operating in the box A for drying the clothes J. FRASER,

D. C. JOHNSON. 

